After Glasprofi invested in a systron proHD line in 2018 and Flachglas Wernberg in 2020, Flachglas Nord-Ost GmbH based in Osterburg (Germany) opted for a glass processing centre from systron this year.

A company with clear visions and a great working atmosphere that places the highest demands on product quality but also on employee satisfaction. That is what describes Flachglas Nord-Ost GmbH from the Hanseatic city of Osterburg very aptly. With around 95 employees at this location and a production area of ​​7,000 m², 300,000 m² of tempered safety glass and 60,000 m² of laminated safety glass made of tempered safety glass are produced each year, generating sales of almost 17 million euros. “We focus on TSG for interiors and exteriors and LSG, e.g. for glass balustrades or balcony glazing, with a variety of printing processes being used. From full-cover printing to etched imitations, there are no limits to creativity. One of our strengths is to process coated tempered safety glass and send it monolithically. This is required above all by manufacturers of insulating glass for the production of sun or heat protection glass,” explains Anja Krost, CEO of Flachglas Nord-Ost GmbH.

Another competitive advantage of Flachglas Nord-Ost is speed. “We produce a laminated safety glass pane in 4 hours, from the cutting to the finished product. Our orientation is the fast glass pane, we manufacture laminated safety glass made of tempered safety glass with very short delivery times, which is what we are known for on the market. Our greatest demand on the new machining centre was rapid production of model glass panes. Coming from the cutting, the glass needs to be processed with the highest precision using CNC machining, through the washing machine and then straight to the tempering oven.

In other words, we wanted one machine for any outside and inside machining, including drilling holes and cutting corners,” says Jörg Behrendt, Head of Industrial Engineering.

“We quickly realized that it would be a vertical system as we don’t have unlimited space,” adds production manager David Bernhardt. “I evaluated at the systron proHD glass processing centre with waterjet 2018 at Glasprofi and was impressed by the solid construction and the output. The waterjet for the cut-outs was also a must-have for us,” says Behrendt.

The topic of automation was also decisive for choosing a systron solution. Flachglas Wernberg uses an L-rack solution with robot loading, Glasprofi uses a automated 20-slot glass storage with a robot for the water jet cut-outs. Flachglas Nord-Ost also opted for the storage system, but with 30 slots. “With automation we want to become even more efficient and relieve our employees. Monotonous loading work or the removal of hard-to-reach glass panes should be done by the robot and the 30-slots glass buffer,” says Bernhardt. “It’s also about more continuity in production. Thanks to the storage and the robot, the machine also runs when the operator takes a break, for example.

With our product mix, our systron proHD can produce completely independently for around 4 hours,” adds Behrendt.

Since the installation of the systron line should not block ongoing production, rapid and proper integration into the existing material flow was essential. “Start-up was flawless, and the interfaces from our Hanic software to systron do also work well.” Any panes that cannot be 100% finished on another machine are processed with the proHD. “In order to maintain dimensional accuracy, even rectangular panes that require internal processing, such as speech openings, are manufactured with the systron,” says Bernhardt.

Flachglas Nord-Ost GmbH is one of the fastest and most reliable glass suppliers in Germany, which is confirmed by a delivery reliability rate of 99.5% and a quality of 98%. Accordingly, modern machinery and top support are very important for Anja Krost’s team. “Our machines need to run. If not, a solution must be found really quickly. Since systron is now well represented in the Flat Glass Group, we can also use synergies in spare parts storage,” says Krost. “It is also commendable to systron that our additional requirements and requests are always implemented promptly.

The support works quickly and reliably,” comments Jörg Behrendt.

“We want to further advance automation and create isolated solutions. If a production company like ours, where the machines work in 2 and 3 shifts, wants to adapt to the new world of work with an optimized work-life balance, you need to go with automation. Next step will be an automated unloading and sorting system for the tempering section. On the one hand, because it is a physically very demanding job, on the other hand, more output would be possible with the same machine size, which would also save energy,” says David Bernhardt. “Human resources are valuable and difficult to calculate, and the volatile energy market makes predictions increasingly difficult. In the future we will therefore have to think more carefully about how we invest so that we can produce in a stable and forward-looking manner,” concludes Anja Krost.